Thermal Management of Vehicle Electronic Payloads Using Nanofluids and Thermoelectric Devices--Modeling and Analysis (PREPRINT)

Electronic payloads have become an integral part of modern military ground vehicles. These electronics often feature high thermal density that must be effectively managed, especially under demanding operating conditions, to maintain system reliability. This paper describes the modeling and analysis of nanofluids and thermoelectric devices to address the cooling challenges posed by these thermal loads. A sensitivity analysis has been performed to investigate the suitability of a particular nanofluid model. Numerical results obtained show that the convective heat transfer coefficient can be enhanced up to 16.1% with the augmentation of nanoparticles into the base fluid (water). The simulation results also show that the peak computer chip temperature varies by only 0.4%, demonstrating that it is insensitive to the complexity of the selected nanofluid model. Furthermore, the proposed thermal management system provides cooling performance which would not be possible with traditional air-cooled heat sinks which remain limited to the ambient temperatures. Submitted for publication in a Special Issue of International Journal of Vehical Design.